Perry Thomas Freshwater (born 27 July 1973) is a retired English rugby union footballer. He is a loosehead prop and occasionally a hooker.
 Portrait of Perry Freshwater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Perry Thomas Freshwater | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 July 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Wellington, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 17 st 2 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Wellington College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biography
editBorn on 27 July 1973 in Wellington, New Zealand, Freshwater started playing rugby union as a five-year-old for the Wellington club and later played for New Zealand Schoolboys against Welsh Schoolboys in Christchurch in 1990. He also played for New Zealand U19 and New Zealand U21 teams before deciding to spend a year in England playing for the Leicester Tigers.
Club career
editFreshwater made his debut against Nottingham in 1995 and went on to make over 130 appearances for the Tigers, many of them off the bench.
Freshwater was an unused replacement in the 2001 Heineken Cup Final,[1] and was a used replacement against Munster in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final.[2]
The presence of England international Graham Rowntree prevented Freshwater from establishing himself properly in the Tigers' team, and eventually in the summer of 2003 he moved to France to further his career at USA Perpignan. In his first season with the club, he was in the Perpignan team that lost to Stade Français in the 2004 Top 14 final.[3] With USAP he won the 2008–09 French Championship, against ASM Clermont Auvergne.[4]
International career
edit
Freshwater qualified for England through his Plaistow-born father (he also had met the three-year residency requirement). In 2003, he received his first England Saxons cap when he played against France A in Perpignan. Freshwater went with the England Saxons team to Canada for the 2005 Churchill Cup and became Vice-Captain.[5] The following year he was made Captain of the side against Italy A.[6]
Freshwater made his international debut from the replacements bench during the 40–3 victory over Samoa in November 2005.[7] He won a further two caps during the 2006 Six Nations Championship, against Scotland[8] and Ireland.[9]
Freshwater played in three games of the 2007 Six Nations Championship, and gained selection for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, [10] where he played in two group games.
References
edit- ^ "European glory seals Leicester treble". BBC. 19 May 2001. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Leicester hang on to defend Heineken crown". ESPN. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Stade Francais Retain French Championship". ERC. 28 June 2004. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Perpignan strike to extend Clermont misery". ESPN Scrum. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Lydon Reshuffles The Churchill Pack". Rugby Football Union. 25 June 2005. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "England A skipper Freshwater in optimistic mood". Rugby Football Union. 2 February 2006. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "England 40–3 Samoa". BBC. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Scotland 18–12 England". BBC. 25 February 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "England 24–28 Ireland". BBC. 19 March 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Tindall & Hodgson miss World Cup". BBC. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2010.